by Matt Kennedy

The activist group, Black Lives Matter, have chanted many controversial ideas in the streets during protests against police forces because of the murder of African-American citizens.  

At the turn of the decade, protests against police have reached mainstream media and the whole world is now aware of what is going on. There are hundreds of videos, taken by citizens, showing police abuse on “innocent” people as they are arrested and/or killed.

Ferguson, Miss. was the site of the initial riot which reached mainstream media in the new wave of civil rights protests. Ferguson protests were caused by the murder of Michael Brown, an African-American teenager, who was fatally shot by a police officer during an arrest.  

As the news covered the protests on Aug. 9, 2014, it was obvious this was not a “peaceful” protest. Stores were broken into and robbed, police cars were turned over and set on fire, innocent bystanders were jumped and raided of their personal belongings. Anger was directed at Black Lives Matter because many assumed they were to blame.

This would carry on for months as more violent protests would break out shortly after the murder of a minority by a white police officer; the matter of the fact is, these types of protests are anything from justified.

Looking back at the “Modern Civil Rights Movement” protests through the 1950’s and 60’s, most were peaceful. Those protests rarely consisted of violence against police and they never succeeded.  

Activists groups, such as the Black Panthers, were initially founded on equal rights and a moral foundation; however, the party grew to develop violence as a method to achieve “black liberation.” When we look back at the Civil Rights Movement, the protests which impacted the culture of the nation were the ones that were the most peaceful.

Martin Luther King Jr. led a revolutionary movement based off of “civil disobedience.” This meant no violence towards the authority figure, but everything from boycotts to peaceful marching was utilized.  

These were the types of actions which changed a nation where equality carried a new meaning. In my opinion, nothing good comes from violence. The protests happening today are not having the impact the activist groups are hoping for because why should society give respect to groups who respond with violence and theft?

Even though the protests themselves are not justified, the reasoning behind them is.

Racism does still exist in today’s world even though some say differently. This world is not perfect and neither are the people who live in it, but citizens are perceived to think everything is alright and everybody gets along with everybody. Police officers do sometimes abuse their power and make unjust arrests simply because of the skin of a person.

The tough thing about this so-called “new civil rights movement” happening today is that no progress is going to be made when neither side is making a radical change in their actions.  Groups like Black Lives Matter do not have a moral message when they chant controversial ideas, but racism still needs to be addressed and destroyed.  

The results of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s are unlike any other; moreover, any race, culture or creed can still learn from leaders such as King Jr.

Watching riots and innocent people getting mugged and trampled in the name of “equality” does nothing, but diminish the work of people like Rosa Parks and King Jr.

Racism is still alive in the world and needs to be destroyed, but fighting fire with fire is not a profitable solution.